


i'll look back and realize these were all completely normal events

by Zambo



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Mentions of Canon Level Violence, au where the courier is 9 and boone ascends to sad videogame dad, nothing bad ever happens to the child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zambo/pseuds/Zambo
Summary: Boone killed a lot of people at the Bitter Springs Massacre. When Carla died, she died pregnant. Now he assumes that kids aren't just for him.Then Six shows up in Novac, and pokes her nose in everyone's business.
Relationships: Craig Boone & Courier (Fallout)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	i'll look back and realize these were all completely normal events

“Hi! I’m Six! But I’m not actually six, Doctor Michell says I’m probably nine and that’s grown up enough to travel.” was the first thing the kid said to everyone.

“Oh? Where are your parents?” It was pretty common that kids passing through tried to talk to Andy. Manny told him it was because rangers are cool, and that he needs to be nicer.

The kid- Six shrugged. “Don’t have any. I’ve got Ed-E though. He’s my best friend.”   
“That’s…. Nice. Where are you from?”

“I dunno. I woke up at Goodsprings. Then I walked here. Do you know there’s a lot of scary stuff on the road?”

Andy grew up without any siblings. Last time he tried to talk to a child, he was nearly blown up. The time before that, he was a child himself. NCR training doesn’t teach that sort of thing.

“Do you like dinosaurs? If you go inside the dinosaur, you can get a free toy. Just tell Cliff to add it to Andy’s tab.” He pushed Six towards Dinky.

Daisy had a grandson, the doctor type. She’d know how to deal with the kid, keep the girl alive.

* * *

It was a team effort to keep Six in Novac. The Wasteland was too dangerous for a single child. 

Jeannie May insisted that she stay in a room for free, Daisy and Manny made sure she ate, and even the McBrides tossed a few caps so she could get some new clothes.

Despite what Craig thought, Manny didn’t have a problem with women, they just weren’t his type. And he liked kids just fine. 

So of course he talked to Six after his shifts. 

“Evening. He ruffled her hair, sitting next to her.

“Heya Manny. How was work?” She didn’t look up from her Pip Boy. Leaning over, he saw some pictures and a lot of text.

“Nice and boring. Whatcha doin’?”

Six fiddled with it and looked up. “Ranger Andy gave me a game! It’s sooo cool! It’s on a holotape, and I play on this!” She lifted up the arm with the Pip Boy.

“Really? I’ve never heard of something like that. What do you do?”

“Okay, so you know the Grognak comics? Well in this, you get to be Grognak and go on an adventure and kill a bad guy. And you get to take some other people to help you out! There’s a lot of monsters, and you have to kill them! Then when you kill them, you take their stuff. It’s a lot like traveling around the Mojave, but there’s magic!” 

It takes a moment for what she said to set in, and shit, that must have been some pricey Pre War tech. Manny made a mental note to be the one who paid for everything next time he and Andy went out. 

“It’s even cooler because Caravan needs someone to play with. I can play this by myself!” That explains it. Andy was getting annoyed by being Six’s favorite Caravan buddy. 

Andy claimed it was because holding the cards bothered his arm, but everyone knew he was a sore loser, and Carly was really fucking good at it.

“Damn. Are you gonna stop playing Caravan now? It’d be nice if you stopped scamming the merchants.”

“I don’t  _ scam  _ anyone! That’s cheating and I am  _ not  _ a cheater!  _ Dios mío _ , why does everyone keep  _ saying  _ that?” Six rolled her eyes and slumped against her chair. 

“Oh shit, I didn’t know you knew Spanish! You should have told me, we can keep ourselves sharp.” 

“Spanish?” She parroted back, tilting her head.

Manny nodded. “Yeah, a lot of people down south speak it.  _ You know this, don’t you? _ ” He switches over to it, ability rusty.

Six’s eyes grew big and she jumped up. “ _ Yeah! Oh man, I thought I made it up! Sometimes I forget to talk normally and this is all I can think in! It’s like our own secret language! _ ”

Fuck, she’s more fluent than Manny is. His mama would kill him if she knew a kid was speaking Spanish better than her son. 

Still he laughs and switches back over to English. “Sure is. Some raiders speak it, and a friend told me it’s what the people at the Tops used to speak before House came along.”

Her eyes flash and she sits back down. “Whaddya mean, before House came along?” She’s serious now, uncannily so. “Who do you know that knows about the Tops? Can I meet them?”

“Probably not. My friend was a traveler, and he didn’t stay here long. Oh, I think I hear Andy calling me, bye Six.” Manny stood, making his way towards the ranger. 

Yeah he likes Six, but he doesn’t want to have to dodge around having to explain a one night stand for the next hour.

“Liar! Get back here!” 

“Hi Mr. Boone! It’s me, Six! Whaddya doing?” Big dark eyes, dark curly hair, and warm fawn skin popped into the sniper’s nest.

It’s hard to look at Six. Not unless he wanted to think about  _ her _ . 

“You should be sleeping. It’s late.” He doesn’t look at her. The skyline is much safer.

Out of the corner of his eye, she shrugs. “I had a nightmare and it’s really hard to sleep now. It was about the Red People coming here.” 

Six sits down next to Boone; criss cross applesauce. He sighs. He’s tired and doesn’t want to talk to a kid.

“Red people?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “They came here and lit stuff on fire and hung everyone up. I was hiding but they knew I was there and kept looking for me and everything smelled like burnt brahmin.”

Hung people up. The smell of burning flesh. Kids shouldn’t know that.

“That’s the Legion. They’re not going to come here. It’s why me and Manny spend all day here. So don’t worry.” 

Six smiles a bit. “Thanks Mr. Boone. You and Mr. Vargas must be super good, since they only put two of you here. In Primm there was a ton of NCR people, and they didn’t do  _ anything _ !”

Yeah, the Legion wouldn’t come here. Instead someone would drag her to them. Then who knows what’ll happen to her. (Boone knows. He knows what he’d do to keep her safe too.)

“We’re not that good. I lost my wife.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I hope you find her. One time I thought I lost Ed-E but he was actually fighting radscorpions. Maybe she’s just doing that. Also! Daisy told me that if you make a wish on the first star you see, it’ll have to come true. It really works, I wished for a toy rocket ship and the next morning there was one outside my door! Just sitting there. So if you wish for your wife to come home, it’ll have to happen.” She explains the same way Carla explained how bottling up feelings only makes someone more unhappy; like it’s a simple fact of the world that everyone should know, but it’s okay that he’s only learned now.

“I’ll see her again. Don’t worry about it.” He looks back at the horizon. Much safer.

“Do you wanna play Caravan? It’s my favorite game and I’m super good at it! I can teach you if you don’t know how. I had to teach Ranger Andy and he’s super bad at it.”

_ She  _ would have liked Six. The kid was too much like her not to.

“Six isn’t a name and if it was, it’s a bad one.” Is what he says instead.

“I guess so, I don’t have any other names. I don’t remember if I have any. I don’t remember  _ anything _ !” 

Poor kid. “Want a better one? I can give you know.”

“Only if it’s a good name. I’d rather have a bad fake name then a bad real name.” She says after a pause.

“What about Carly? You look like one.” For a moment, Boone forgets not to think about  _ her _ , and he’s sinking all over again.

Six looks out at the horizon, her hand on her chin, eyebrows furrowed. Some part of Boone that isn’t drowning makes sure to pay attention. Names are important and so is this moment.

“I think Carly’s cool! Thanks Mr. Boone!” She smiles at him and for a moment, everything’s okay.

* * *

“Excuse me Ranger Andy, can I talk to you?” Carly opens his door only to then knock on it.

“I told ya, no more Caravan. I have a lot of things that need to be done.” He doesn’t bother looking up from his desk.

She’s quiet, which should have tipped him off. She’s never quiet. “I- This isn’t about Caravan. It’s about something else. It’s uh, about Mr. Boone kinda.”

“ _ What _ did he do? You don’t need to worry kid, I’ll make sure-” Andy sees red. It’s all he can do to stay and not do anything drastic in the moment. 

“No! He didn’t do anything! I found something and I think you need to see it. I didn’t mean to find it, it was an accident! Mrs Crawford’s been so nice, and I wanted to give her some caps I won, but she wouldn’t take them so then I noticed that she keeps her spare caps in a safe and-” 

“Alright Carly. You’re not in trouble. Just get to the point.”

“Okay! I was gonna sneak some caps into her safe, I wasn’t gonna steal anything promise! But I found this. I think you should read it.” She reaches into her bag and hands him a piece of paper.

It didn’t take that long to read what it said, but he had to read it again to make sure it was right, and a third time just in case. 

“You found this in Jeannie May’s safe? When?” He tucks the paper inside a drawer.

“Couple of days ago. But I took it last night.” Carly’s fists tangle up into her shirt. “I wanted to tell Mr. Boone but I dunno how. He’s too sad about his wife. I don’t wanna make him more sad.”

The phrase  _ unborn child _ keeps bouncing in his head. Andy’s not sure what’s more telling about it; Carla’s behavior then or Boone’s behavior now.

“It’s alright. I need you to bring Manny and Boone here, alright? Tell them it’s an order from me, and that they should leave their guns.” Just in case.

Carly doesn’t say anything, she just leaves. 

Manny comes in first. Andy can only bring himself to tell him that once Boone’s here, it’s Manny’s job to block the door. Andy should explain it, but this is the kind of thing that’s heavy enough he can only say it once.

Boone enters and Carly follows in. When Manny moves to stop her, the ranger shakes his head. 

“Craig, I want you to sit down. There’s something that our friend found, and you need to know about it.” 

Boone sits on the bed, right across from him. Carly goes to sit down next to him, but then stands up and takes a few steps back. Manny leans against the door.

Andy reads the bill of sales outloud. He’s told enough families about their dead soldiers, helped bury legion slaves, and somehow this is the hardest thing he’s done.

For the first time in months the sunglasses are off. Now Boone covers his eyes with his hands. He’s still, like a dog before it attacks. 

“I’m sorry.” Carly’s braver than two grown ass men, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I one time saw a baby at Primm. They’re small. I’ve never seen anything that small.” 

Boone’s shoulders shake and something between a sob and laughter cracks out of him. “Yeah, babies are small.” He lifts up his face to look at her.

“Carly, you found this, right? What do you want? I’ll give it to you, anything.”

“I- I need to go to New Vegas. I gotta find somebody.” 

He nods. Then he wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. Carly doesn’t move. 

“I’ll take you there. Promise.”

At least Andy knows why Boone was so goddamn weird around the kid now. He was practicing in case Carla came back. 

* * *

Traveling on the road isn’t terrible. The worst part is how slow it goes. Carly has short legs, a small bladder, and is always drinking water. What was normally a short journey between Novac and 188 now stretches out to a half a day longer. 

It doesn’t help that she gets distracted and wanders off the road. Boone would think that she’s behind him and then the  _ goddamn  _ robot would play that  _ goddamn  _ song and he’d realize that she was twenty feet off of the road, looking at a cactus. After the third time it happened, he had Carly lead the way.

“My feet hurt. Can we stop for a snack break? I’m hungry.”

“We ate three hours ago.”

“Mmmuurrgghhpphh!” She makes an impossible sound. Boone’s almost impressed. “But I’m hungry again! Walking on a road is so boring! We’d get there so much faster if we cut through!”

He shakes his head. “Heard about cazadors. Not cutting through.”

“It’s super easy though! ED-E distracts them while we run through. It works every time. Then we’re at Boulder City and that’s one step closer to Vegas!”

“No.” Boone is going to die. The moment there was an adult that could actually take care of the kid, he would die. It’d be Carly’s fault too.

“Fiiine. Can we listen to the radio again?”

“Not anymore.”

“Why?”

“The songs are bad.”

Carly makes that inhuman sound again, but somehow longer. “But there’s  _ nothing  _ to do but walk! I’m  _ bored _ !”

“If you want to get to Vegas, you’ll have to get used to it. Lots of walking.” 

“Ugh, okay.” 

Boone can barely keep the smile off his face. He didn’t have a good track record with kids, but-

But he had a terrible track record with children. The almost-smile is gone. He holds his rifle tighter, keeps a closer eye on the surroundings. Just in case.

Given Boone’s kind of luck, he should have known it’d set the robot off. It plays some ditty and Carly vanishes. 

“Fuck! Stop scaring her!”

ED-E beeps.

He frowns. Carly talks to it like it actually understands her, but he isn’t so sure. “Doesn’t matter. We’re almost at 188.”

The robot beeps again. 

“There’s a kid there? That’s so cool! Maybe we’ll be friends!” Boone has to stop himself from shooting her. She  _ is  _ good at hiding.

“Come on Mr. Boone!” She grabs his arm and starts pulling it along. “We have to get there! Hut hut!”

Huh. She doesn’t seem like the type who’d want friends. With Carly wanting to get somewhere, they make record time.

* * *

Boone’s haggling for water (and doing a shitty job) when Carly shows up, hands shoved in her pockets. Damned eyebot behind her. 

He’s pretty sure she’s the only reason the vendor agrees to lower the price. It’s funny how if he mentions he’s with a kid, he gets more discounts. 

The transaction doesn’t take long to finish, but she’s quiet the whole time. She watches him until it’s done, and they’re out of hearing range.  
“Are we spending the night here?” Carly speaks softly.

Boone shrugs. “Dunno. You want to?”

She shakes her head quickly.

“Did something happen with the kid?”

“No! It’s fine. The place is just weird.” She cracks under his gaze. “He said he could see the future but it makes his head hurt. So he only does it to get money for food. I’ve never heard of that before, and everyone should have food so I have him the caps and he took off this-”

“I’m not getting your caps back for you if that’s the problem.”

Carly frowned. “No. He asked me want I wanted to know and- I dunno. I don’t want to stay here. And there’s less bad people if you travel during the night. They’re all sleeping or too high to notice anything. I only ever see geekos.”

“Did he say something?”

“Yeah Mr. Boone. I gave him my money to say stuff!” She rolls her eyes. “Grownups, right ED-E?”

The robot beeps.

Boone looks away. Doesn’t matter what he meant to say, he’s been humiliated by flying scrap and a kid.

“We’re staying. Tough luck.” That’ll show them both. 

“What-?! Why?”

“It’s safer. Raiders are unpredictable.” There are reasons for a girl to be scared. “I know someone who has a house. We can spend the night there. There’s locked doors and everything.”

She shakes her head. “No! You don’t understand.”

“What don’t I get?”

“The Forecaster said that if I stayed, someone very bad is gonna find us!”

Wait? “Who’s this guy?”

“The other kid! We have to leave.”

“Look. He’s just scamming your for a few caps. He might even be working with raiders, to make some money.”

“I paid a hundred caps! That’s not a scam!” She stomps her foot on the ground, as ED-E beeps along.

Boone blinks. “You paid  _ how  _ many caps? Do you even have anything left?”

“It’s not that many, since I get a ton from Caravan. It’s so many that I make ED-E carry them, or else my caps bag would break.”

“Oh.” That’s right, leaving town. “Well that is a scam. Don’t do that again. We’re staying the night here.” He turned and walked away before Carly could disagree.

Christ, how much did she have if 100 caps wasn’t a big deal? Boone shouldn’t have to pay if that’s the case.

It was hard ignoring Carly and ED-E outcries, and harder to ignore the stares of everyone else. Maybe he shouldn’t have promised to help her find the man she’s looking for. He could have asked Manny, or just have said thanks. That would have been normal.

But no. He’s knocking on a door to a shack, and having to ask if they can spend the night. Most of the NCR’s good folk, but having a kid in the commons is asking for disaster. 

Shitty enough when he and  _ Her  _ went through here to Novac. No point putting Carly through it. 

“I have to take the kid to Freeside. It’s getting dark. Pay you if we can stay in the spare room?” Sometimes, Boone wishes that the enemy took him out when they had the chance.

The old woman looks behind him, at the kid.

“Seventy-five caps. And you don’t tell anyone else.” She pointed a skeletal finger at him, waggling it.

“Okay.” He handed her the caps, and dragged Carly inside.

The next morning, they were eating some fresh made food. Carly refused to look at Boone, and ED-E didn’t let him look at her.

“Fresh iguana’s good stuff. Can’t get it on the road.”

“Everyone sells it. And this tastes like farts.” She yells and nearby people look at her. “Yeah! This iguana tastes like farts!”

The man at the trading post glared at them. Boone didn’t see this, because he was too busy looking at his plate.

“If you don’t want to finish it, then give it to me. But you’re not getting anything later.” He says at a perfectly normal volume.

Carly rolls her eyes. “Nooo, it’s fine. I’ll eat it.”

Boone adds another cap to the counter. Kids are expensive. Thankfully she shuts up and doesn’t speak again. 

They’re both eager to leave, and they must be a mile down the road when someone comes from the other side.

A man in a simple suit with a pack brahmin. Must be a doctor or one of those fake doctors. 

Boone nods at him, and the man nods back. Meanwhile Carly freezes and ED-E plays that  _ fucking  _ jingle.

“Howdy. Fine morning, isn’t it? Everything all right?” When he smiles, his eyes crinkle. 

“Sure is. I’m Boone and this is-”

“You-  _ You were at Nipton _ .” Carly half whispers. ED-E’s song gets louder as the man’s smile falters.

“And who might you be?” He asks, and Boone realizes that maybe, the kid was right. 

He steps between the stranger and her. “This is Tandi. My niece. Her parents work for a caravan. They’re at uh, Zion. I’m watching till they get back. Watching her.”

“Oh? How  _ nice _ . I’m Todd Fox. Have you been to Zion, girl? It’s a wonderful place.” He leans over and smiles at Carly. 

Boone can feel her grabbing his shirt. Carly’s silent, he puts himself between them again.

“My sister doesn’t go out that far, but the caps were good. So she’s here with me. Too dangerous for a kid.” That’s right, Nipton was attacked by the Legion. Everyone was dead or missing. Andy said the NCR was lucky to have been alerted to it so quickly, rumor said that there were fires still burning when the Rangers got there.

Carly had nightmares about the Legion. She was the luckiest person around. But why did this asshole care?

“Your sister leads? How modern. The Republic should be honored to have families like yours.” The smile and words feel genuine; that’s the worst part. “Well Boone and Tandi, it was a pleasure to meet you. Sadly I must be on my way.”

Once he’s out of sight, Carly throws herself around Boone. He pats her back and watches where the stranger went.

Carly tearfully told him everything. How she was traveling at night and found Nipton in the middle of the road. 

She talked about the dying moans of the people on crosses. Looking from far away with a pair of binoculars. Watching the Legion burn buildings. How ED-E and her snuck around to figure out what was happening. Hiding as Legionaries walked right past the pair and ‘Todd’ was leading them.

“They called him Wool Pays, which is a dumb. Wool pays for what? Once they were gone, we went up to one of those bases and told some dude what happened.”

Boone’s stomach drops. “What was he wearing?”

“He had this hat that looked like a dog head. And sunglasses.” She lifts up her hands to mimic dog ears.

“And you’re  _ sure  _ this is the same person we just met?”

Carly shivers while ED-E beeps. “Yeah. Same voice.”

Fuck. Fuck  **fuck** fuck. Fuck! Boone remembers the posters.

“We’re going to Boulder City. We need to hurry.” He stands up, pulling Carly off the ground.

“Why?”

“There’s a radio to McCarran there.” He grabs her arm and starts walking. “Sooner we get there, the better.”

She has to jog to keep up. “Who’s that? Mr. Boone, what’s going on.”

One man can’t take down the entire Legion. One person can’t take down a whole squad. But Vulpes Inculta was alone and in NCR territory, and his death has to mean something. 

_ She’d  _ say to look inside himself and figure out the ‘real’ reason why he wanted this. That this is unhealthy. Fuck it.  _ She  _ was dead and he was alone.

“Mr. Boone? Did I say something wrong?”

“That man is very bad. If we know where he’s at, that’s one step closer for him being dead.”

Maybe it would have been smarter for Boone to go back to 188, but fuck. There was a  _ kid _ . A girl kid. He might as well be tossing her into the Fort.

And Vulpes escapes, there wasn’t a radio to let nearby military know. Boulder City had a radio. Communication was one of the most important things Boone learned from the NCR.

Carly complained about the rush, her feet hurting, and not getting to take any breaks; but she didn’t get it. And the less she knew the better. Kids shouldn’t have to know about the Legion anyway.

By the time they got to Boulder City, it was night for awhile. Few hours maybe? Carly kept slowing them down, and Boone gave in a carried her on his back for the rest of the way. 

When the lieutenant began to talk, Boone cut him off. He ratted off his name, troop number, and rank. “I have to use your radio. There’s been a Legion sighting at 188.”

“Some Khans took ours down, and are holding two of my men hostage. You and the girl alright?”

“Yes sir. She’s just tired.”

“Are there any soldiers or civilians in danger?” Boone knows he only means the NCR. To people like the lieutenant; if someone wasn’t NCR, then they were an example of what not to be.

“Duh! The Legion’s the bad guys! Of course people are in danger!” Carly takes a step forward and points at him. “You’re the good guys, so you have to do something!”

A couple of soldiers hide laughs. Lot of them stared at her. Something about it makes Boone clench his fists. He wants to cover her eyes, maybe ever put a sheet over her so she can’t see how they’re looking at her. She’s not stupid, she just doesn’t know better.

Instead he does the next best thing. He puts a hand on her shoulder and speaks. “I can’t say for sure. There was only one Legionnaire, but it was Vulpes.”

“Are- are you sure?” The giggles and looks stopped. Only people who are even moving are the lieutenant, Boone, and Carly.

He was still holding her shoulder, and could feel her shaking.

“Of course I’m sure. So’s the kid, who was at fucking  _ Nipton  _ by the way. She saw the fucker there.” He spat out. Boone didn’t know if the others could feel his glare, but he hoped so. 

“Is she yours?”

Boone shakes his head. “I’m taking her to some family.”

The lieutenant furrowed his brows and thought. Carly kept shaking, like she was going to explode. All Boone could do was keep a hand on her.

“Alright. If you’re telling the truth, then you’ll get our men back. You were in First Recon, we’ll get you a nest ready. Then you take the Khans out.” 

Bitter Springs comes up in his mind. The ones who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight. It was like the floor had fallen out under him and he landed in the fragmented bits of it he actually remembered. He wanted to throw up. 

Boone was the one shaking now.

“No.” Carla once told him, after a nightmare, that it was okay to say no. He didn’t have to work for the NCR and do something terrible for them again, that it was okay to compromise. “Let me talk to them first, alone.”

“What the f-”

“I’ll leave my gun here, and if you hear gunshots, then you have reason to call backup for them shooting someone unarmed. I’ve been discharged, so it’s like shooting a civ.”

Everyone was silent as the lieutenant thought.The wind blew a few grains of sand. 

“Sounds like a fine plan. Hand us everything you have, and we’ll send you in. Men, get ready to go in.” The lieutenant nods to him, like he’s a dead man walking. He probably is.

There’s no reason to drag it out. Boone tosses his gun to the nearest soldier, and turns to head in. But a pair of small hands wrap around his own hand.

“Mister Boone?” Carly’s hair sticks to her face; looking like a molerat nest. It needs to be brushed. Boone doesn’t know what to say so he doesn’t bother saying anything.

“Can I hold your hat? Till you get back? It’s an NCR hat, and everyone knows the Khans don’t wanna talk to NCR people.” In the fading daylight, he can’t tell where her irises end and her pupils start. They’re full of tears.

He takes off the beret. Bends down so he’s looking at her straight in the eyes. Wraps her hands around the fabric. He doesn’t know how to say anything nice, but he tries. “It better be in one piece when I’m back.” 

Boone stands up and looks for the soldier who has their own kids. It’s easy to tell because they’re the ones who are homesick when they see other kids. He walks to that one, and asks for a favor.

“Take her somewhere safe. I don’t want her to be close.” 

The soldier goes to Carly. Boone can’t watch her walk away, so he turns his back. Enters the ruins.

The place smells like dust. The Khans guards aim guns at him, and Boone raises his hands in the air.

“I’m a negotiator. Here to negotiate with your boss.”

“We don’t have a boss.” A woman said. 

_ Shit _ . “Who’s in charge?”

“That’d be Jessup, bootlicker. And why do you wanna “talk” anyway?” She mocks Boone by air quoting the word talk

“The radio’s broken, and it needs to be fixed. There’s an important message that needs to be sent.”  _ Oh yeah, there was that other thing. _ “The lieutenant said something about holding people hostage?”

The Khans laugh and lower their weapons. The woman steps forward. “Guess you’re not with the NCR after all. Follow me and don’t try any bullshit.”

She leads Boone to one of the buildings with a door on it. Knocking on it, she said something he didn’t understand. 

He did understand why Jessup’s in charge, the man’s terrifying. Easily six feet tall, a mohawk of blood red hair, and the space between his shoulders was about the length of three babies.

“The hell you want?” He spits out.

“Radio broke. Need to send a message to McCarran. Looking to see if you’re all okay with someone fixing it. Maybe get the men back too.”

“We told those NRC fuckers to leave us alone. Why should we listen to them?” Jessup pays more attention to fiddling with his switchblade than to Boone.

“The troop outside that fence wants you all dead. They don’t have a reason unless you give them one.”

“ _ Bullshit _ ! The NCR always finds a reason if they want someone dead! Fuck, I’ve got half a mind to send you back to them filled with bullets.”

Something in Boone’s stomach drops. “No.”

“Give me one good reason why.” Jessup sneers, leaning into Boone’s face.

“I’m passing by. I’ve got a kid waiting for me, and I promised her I’ll be back.”

Jessup’s eyes look like glass beads. Boone takes his shot. “She doesn’t remember anything, and she’s not mine. She looks more like a Khan than like me. I’d take her to Red Rock Canyon myself, but they don’t like NCR. I promised to take her to Vegas, but I don’t think she has family there. If a Khan could take her to Red Rock, she might find some family.”

The sneer falls off Jessup’s face. Boone and the other Khans hold their breath.

“Fine. But take this.” He tosses a lighter to Boone. “I don’t like Benny Gecko. Tell one of those fancy ass robots that he killed a kid, and you got this off of someone who saw it. Maybe you can put that child killer six feet under. None of them deserve to live.”

Boone catches it, and puts it in his side bag. He can’t look at Jessup anymore.

Shots go off outside, and there’s yelling. The guards and Jessup aim their guns at Boone, who again throws his hands in the air.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jessup’s snarls. “They put you up to this!”

“No! I told them to stay back!” Boone shouts. “I don’t know what’s going on!”

More gunshots go off. They keep aiming at Boone.

“If I knew I was sent on a mission that’d get me killed, don’t you think I would have brought a fucking gun in?!” 

Jessup frowns, and lowers his weapon. “Stay in here. If you move, I’ll fucking kill you. If you touch anything, I’ll fucking kill you. We’ll talk when we get back.” He looks at the other Khans in the room. “We need to go help the others.”

The next time the door opens, it’s Lieutenant Moore and his men. They help Boone out, and tell him how great he did. Boone can’t hear it though. His thoughts about how clearly Jessups hair isn’t blood red, and the puddle of blood staining his hair are too loud.

Boone agrees with Jessup. Child killers shouldn’t get to live. He’s not sure where it puts himself though.

The lighter weighs him down almost as much as the guilt does.

Carly runs at Boone when he’s allowed to see her. She runs right into him and at first he thinks she tripped. Then she wraps her arms around him and Boone’s not sure what to do. 

“Mr. Boone! I’m so glad you’re okay! I was super worried when the gunshots went off, but Mr. Ike got me some soda and snacks. Then I remembered that you’re really cool and Mr. Manny said that you and him are badbutts. That’s how I knew you’d be okay!” She babbles into his chest.

“Mmhhmm.” Boone gives her a single pat on the head.

She lets go, bouncing on her feet. “Now what?”

“It’s late. Aren’t you tired?”

“Nope! I had Nuka Cola!” She lets go and bounces on her feet.

He barely manages to hold back a swear. Why would anyone give a kid that shit? It tastes like sugary piss. (At least that’s what Boone assumes piss tastes like.) Sunset Sarsaparilla tastes good and doesn’t have enough caffeine to kill a brahmin. 

“Alright then. You can help me.”

“Ooohhhh!!! What are we doing?” Carly’s eyes are bright enough that Boone can almost see his reflection in them. He tries to smile for her, but it feels too much like lying.

“I’m going to tell the NCR about the man we met. The one you saw at Nipton.”

“Because he’s a bad guy?” The smile falls and she turns serious. Like an adult.

He nods. “One of the baddest. We’re going to tell them everything we remember.”

As quickly as it left, it came back. “Because the NCR are the good guys!”

“Yeah.” 

Boone leads her to lieutenant, and doesn’t think about Jessup or any other Khans. Just like how he doesn’t think about Her.

The sun’s already set when they contact Camp McCarran. It’s late when he’s allowed to take Carly to a spare sleeping bag in a spare cabin. Even then, it’s only because Carly keeps nodding off. Boone’s never met Major Curtis before, but he owes the man for letting them leave early and not asking all the questions he’s supposed to.

Carly cried when recounting, and Boone felt the judgment when he gave her a pat on the shoulder. 

“Are you sure they don’t need my help? I’m not-” She yawns. “Not that tired. Sides, I don’t wanna sleep.”

“Don’t question them. Now where’s your hairbrush?”

“Why?”

“Because your hair’s a mess. Now give it to me and face the other way.” He tugs it from her hands.

Her back faces him now. Boone starts brushing at the bottom of her hair, with the goal to work up over time.

“Oh. You can brush hair? That’s so cool! I didn’t know bald people could do that.”

“Anyone can do it.” When nightmares woke him up, She’d let him brush her hair. Said that stuff like that was good.

“Neat. Do you know any hairstyles? I don’t.”

Tonight’s going to be a problem night. He can feel it in his bones. Probably better not to even bother with sleep. “Nope.”

“Okie dokie.” She yawns again. “Maybe I can learn some in New Vegas.”

He doesn’t answer that. Carly’s swaying back and forth. She must be tired. Boone thinks his mother once said something about kids needing extra sleep. 

Boone brushes her hair until she slumps backward, asleep on his chest. Carefully, he lays her in the sleeping bag. She doesn’t wake up, not even a little.

He puts the hairbrush in her backpack and gets into his own sleeping bag. In case something happens, they’re right next to each other. If something happened, she wouldn’t be alone.

ED-E beeps in a quick succession.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Boone’s nightmares don’t make an appearance. If they do, no one else notices.

The morning alarm throws Boone into a different time. He wakes up in the barracks, getting ready for morning drills until he almost trips over Carly and falls down into reality. She’s lying down, covering her ears. 

“Get up. You don’t want to miss breakfast.” He nudges her with his foot. Takes a deep breath. Feels the weight of his steps. This moment is real.

“Mmrrooggghhuuggh.” She rolls overs.

ED-E beeps something that could almost be music, and she sits up for that.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there.” She tells it.

He rolls his eyes. “Better point than missing breakfast?”

“Well duh. ED-E gets it.” Carly laughs as she gets ready for the day. 

Boone faces the wall when she changes. It doesn’t seem to bother her, but that doesn’t make it less weird. At least she was old enough not to need help with anything.

“What did it tell you?”  _ And what could an eyebot ‘get’ that I can’t? _ Is the unspoken question.

She laughs again, and the junk trills along like it’s laughing too. “Lots of stuff! If you talked to ED-E, you’d understand. It’s one of the smartest people I know!”

“... Let’s go get breakfast. We have a lot of walking to do.”

Boone never had any strong opinions on Boulder City before, but now he’s sure the place is cursed. The sooner they leave the better. Carly was fine to leave, but was punishing Boone for whatever reason.

“I’m not a baby.” She fiddles with the Pip Boy’s radio.

Thinking about babies hurts. That’s why he doesn’t do it, and how he knows she’s not one.

“So next time, don’t not tell me about stuff! If you said that we were gonna tell people so the Wool Pays guy gets arrested, I would have been nicer.”

“Noted.” Nothing else to say about it.

“Ugh!” She kicks a rock, going back to the Pip-Boy. 

ED-E beeps.

“Tell me about it.” Boone mutters.

“Hey! ED-E wasn’t talking to you!”

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

Something about that calms her down. The radio’s playing some kind of talk show that’s easy to tune out. It’s the Black Mountain station. Goofy, weird, but harmless. The music isn’t too bad either.

Boone can list everything he knows about supermutants on one hand, but even he knows they’ve earned whatever kind of peace they can carve out.

After nearly an hour, Carly gasps. “Mr. Boone! Listen!” She turns up the volume.

The speakers aren’t good enough to tell if Raul the mechanic is a heavy smoker or a ghoul. It doesn’t matter, he won’t survive. Just because the supermutants deserve peace doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

“We have to help him! Can we go back to Boulder City and radio the other people?”

If that poor man was a civilian, then the NCR would have already gone in guns blazing. Wouldn’t be anything left.

“Sorry. They’re got their hands full with Legion.”

Carly grabs his hand, and he remembers how defenceless she is. Boone’s not that tall, and he looks down to meet her gaze.

“What about you? You saved those guys from the Khans!”

“No!” He doesn’t mean to shout, but it’s that or throw up. He takes a deep breath and puts those feelings away.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do it alone. And I can’t leave you alone.”

There’s tears in her eyes. “Then I’ll go and you’ll have to follow. Then we can both save him.”

“No.” He says firmly, but softer. “Supermutants are dangerous. We’ll all die then. I’m not letting that happen to you.”

Ignoring the tears, she plops on the ground. “Fine. My feet hurt anyway. I’m done walking.”

“Okay.” Boone sits next to her, just close enough to their arms touch. He wishes  _ She  _ was here.  _ She’d  _ be able to get Carly to stop crying and understand. Instead it’s Boone who’s here and he doesn’t know how to make her feel better.

All he knows is that they’re currently perfect targets. ED-E bobs up and down. Boone stands up.

“How about this;” He makes a deal. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride until your feet stop hurting.”

She looks at him with narrowed eyes. “Promise?”

He nods, and offers her his hand.

“I told you I’m not a baby.” Carly mutters as she gets up. She still rides on his back, and enjoys every minute of it.

That night, after they make camp, they lie down and stare at the stars. They’re pointing out constellations, and making up a few of their own. In a quiet moment, Boone tells her that she shouldn’t try to run off to Black Mountain. That if she does, he’ll chase her down and drag her back to Novac and she’ll never leave that town again.

He’s surprised that she giggles at that. “Okay, but you have to promise you won’t leave.”

It’s the easiest promise Boone’s made in a long time.

Jerky’s for breakfast and Carly makes her displeasure known. 

“It’s like chewing on a piece of wood. It looks like how Mr. Manny’s boyfriend talks. It looks like the dead coyote guts we passed.”

Boone’s tuned her out, but one comment drags him back to reality. “Manny’s  _ what _ ?!”

“You know Mr. Haversam. He’s the one who talks weird and is really grumpy. He’s all rablahbahblahblahblahblah.” She lowers her pitch and makes her voice as graveley as it can get. 

_ Oh, Chris _ . “Are you sure they’re dating?”

“I mean, I sure hope so. Cause that’s what Mr. Manny told me. I asked him why they were living together when I’ve been to Mr. Manny’s house and there’s only one bed. Ranger Andy told me that Mr. Haversam was sleeping on the floor and I was  _ super  _ worried. But! It’s okay! Mr. Manny told me they’re in love and stuff, so no one has to sleep on the floor. Oh! And you better not tell anyone! Mr. Haversam said that he’d fed me to the leftover ferals if I blabbered about it. Pretty sure he was joking, since they all got on the ships...” She trails off, muttering to herself.

“Huh.” Boone’s still processing the idea that Manny dated. Back in the army, he didn’t even sleep around. The concept of Manny dating, and then not telling Boone was a lot.

“I bet he didn’t tell you cause you spent all your time being sad in your house.”

There’s thought that creeps out of nowhere. One that hits Boone like a punch to the gut. The reason why Manny never fooled around, why he hated  _ her _ , and it hurts to think about. 

Inside his mind, Boone puts those thoughts in the compartment as Bitter Springs and Carla. Just add his best friend to the list of people he’s hurt, it doesn’t matter. The list of people is long enough.

“Eat your breakfast.” Is what he tells her.

Carly deflates at that.   
“I was hoping you forgot.” She mournfully takes a bite.

A few more days pass and things go well as they could. If things could have actually gone well, they could have taken the train from Boulder City and gone straight to Sloan, then it’d be a quick shot straight to New Vegas. Instead Boone’s life is fucking cursed. This isn’t new, but there’s not much else to think about. 

The safest path is painfully slow, then Carly’s short legs (and shorter attention span) slow them down even more. And then there’s the Vipers.

It wasn’t until the fourth day that Boone saw someone following them. He didn’t catch a good look at whoever it was until the day after that. They’d just follow the two and watch. Vipers generally just attacked and stole. They weren’t like the Khans, who had families.

When Boone asked Carly if she ever felt like she was being watched, she just shrugged and said, “ED-E and you are always watching me.”

The robot played a little tune, bumped into Boone’s shoulder, then turned to where the Vipers were.

“I know.” He told both of them.

On the sixth day Boone got heat exhaustion, so nothing happened. He made some shelter and began teaching Carly how to use a gun.

“Oh, I already know how. My friend Sunny gave me a BB gun. It was pretty cool.”

“Where is it?” BB guns are only useful for killing geckos. But the appearance of her having a gun would be useful. It’d be one of the few things Boone would turn around and go back to Novac for.

“I traded it for a copy of Lad’s Life! In this issue, they teach you how to track a mountain lion! I dunno what that is, but it sounds pretty cool. Might be useful.”

“Ah.” Again, fucking cursed. “Next time we meet a trader, you’re getting a pistol.”

“Ohhh, do I get to use it?”

He took a swig of water. “I’ll think about it.

In all honesty, they didn’t need to sit around a whole day. But they’d be to Vegas soon, and then she’d be with her family. Boone would go back to Novac alone. He couldn’t say why, but the thought made him sad.

The day was nice and when night came around, it was peaceful. Carly fell asleep with ease. Boone stayed up, watching the stars. One star was burning brighter than the right.

Wait.

It was burning. And falling. He could only watch in horror as a strange metal object fell towards the earth, gaining speed. Whatever it was, landed near where the Vipers were camping out. 

Boone could hear faint screams coming from there. Glancing ED-E, the two exchanged a look.

“Stay here. I’m going to check it out. Protect Carly.” He tells it as he stands. A rifle won’t do much damage, but it calms his nerves. ED-E beeps one last time. 

Boone walks over the dunes to survey the Viper’s camp. The crushed bodies and bloody sand reminds him of Bitter Springs. Most of them died from the strange object landing on them, and the few that are alive would die a slow painful death.

He doesn’t let them suffer. With the gunshots, a screen on the thing lights up; a single bright blue eye flurries around and takes in the scene.

Whatever it is it’s still working. Boone holds his gun tight and goes to check it out. The rifle is pointed at whatever it is. The thing meets his gaze.

From 20 feet away, a metal arm shoots out of the thing towards Boone. It moves like a snake and has a three pronged claw at the end. It snaps at him, trying to grab him.

He doesn’t back away, because it would find Carly. (Boone’s promised himself no more dead kids.) Instead he runs to the side, not seeing the second arm hiding in the sand. At least not until it’s too late.

The claw of the second arm grabs his leg and Boone falls. As he tries to get up, it wraps itself around his chest and arms, constricting his breath. The first claw snakes above his face and a needle pops out of the center of it.

During the struggle the sunglasses fell off so he’s lucky enough to watch the needle plunge straight into his chest. His body stops responding to his brain as black dots begin to consume his vision. He can’t even move his mouth to apologize to Carly.

The last thought Boone has before passing out is that he’s fucking cursed. It’s the only explanation.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Yesterday it was 93 days since Raul was captured. As the morning light floods in, he takes the pen and makes the 94th tally mark on the wall. The corpse of Rhonda lies on the table. 

“You think I’ll make it to a hundred?” He asks it. 

No response. He sits down across from it, and just waits. Probably for Tabitha.

The morning passes by quietly. Raul pretends to be busy and pokes around at Rhonda. It’s normal, nothing different. 

At least until someone taps him on his back.

“What the-” He grabs the wrench and turns around when he sees her.

It’s a kid, with tanned skin and dark brown hair that’s pulled back in a ponytail. She’s dressed worn t-shirt and jeans, with an Eyebot bobbing close behind.

“You’re the guy from the radio, right? I’m Carly! Oh! Is that Rhonda? I’m really good with robots! That’s how I got ED-E! Can I help?” The kid’s jumping up and down with excitement with a big ole grin. 

Raul takes a moment to process. With a matching grin, he offers her his hand. “Pleasure’s all mine. You’re the boss now.”

**Author's Note:**

> hot diggy damn man. 27 pages and over 8k words. i started this fic in august of 2019 and i honestly never believed that it finished. biggest of shoutouts to everyone on the tops sever for putting up with my bullshit and weird ass ideas for the past year. biggest of thanks to z, who betaed this for me. all of my friends are so good and make me emotional <3
> 
> anyway time to go this again? see yall in like a year-ish i guess. if anyone wants to keep up with my, my twitter's @zambo_zombii and my tumblr is butch-zambo (tho i only use tumblr for flight rising nowadays lmao)
> 
> thanks for reading <3


End file.
